The 18-month shutdown of the L Train from Brooklyn’s Bedford stop across 14th St. into Manhattan, planned for 2019, is going to upend the lives of many New Yorkers. A quarter million daily commuters will soon be forced to find a new way to get from A to B. That is almost half the population of the entire state of Wyoming, and more than double the population of Albany (even when the Legislature is in town)."

We need to get smarter now, and get to work on creative solutions to build 21st-century streets and transit, not only for crises like the “L-pocalypse,” but for the supposedly normal times, which are unacceptable too."

Squadron represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, including Williamsburg, in the state Senate. White is executive director of Transportation Alternatives.